15471 posts
Hi Murfinsky, welcome to MySwissAlps!
You’ll find an overview of retailers here: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpassflex/pric e. All of them allow credit cards and some offer other payment methods too. E.g. https://www.happyrail. com/en/pass/europe/swi tzerland/swiss-travel-pass-flex and http://www.raileurope. com.au/pass/swiss-pass-7314 (Rail Europe Australia) allow payment via Paypal as well.
I haven’t heard of Bpay and Bank Travel Cards before. I don’t think any of them offer that.
8889 posts
G’day Murfinsky and Welcome to MySwissAlps
Get your Flex pass from Happy Rails (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/price) and avoid the shipment fees. Allow 3 weeks.
Why did you pick a flex pass. How long are you in Switzerland?
Have you done the mandatory “How to choose the best travel pass” (http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass), download the handy spreadsheet calculator and do the math thing?
72625 posts
Thanks for your great advice on ticket purchase options.
We are in Switzerland for 11 days, but have local short trip days in Montreux and Lucerne which splits the continuity of our longer trips, so we think we do not need full coverage beyond 8 days.
It is complicated, and I have used the spreadsheet. We thought we might get away with a 4 day flexi pass or even the 8 day non flexi and then pay full price on other days but the convenience of just having a pass for every day won out.
Regards
8889 posts
I used a Commonwealth Bank Travel Card to pay for Swiss stuff as if it was a credit card. Worked fine. Only problem is you can’t load it with CHF. Euros was the closest so you cop the exchange rate coming and going. I gave up worrying. I figured if you are game enough to travel to Switzerland you can’t be hard up.
72625 posts
Rockoyster- I like your spin on visiting Switzerland. Point taken, and I’ve moved on sweating the details.
You are right.. If I wanted a dirt cheap holiday I would laze on a beach in Bali…
Cheers, and thanks
72625 posts
>> I would prefer to avoid credit card currency change fees.
Paying in your own currency doesn’t mean you avoid currency conversion fees – it just means they are hidden in the price charged to you in your own currency. There’s every chance that the fees incorporated into the price charged by the provider of the goods/services you are purchasing are likely to be less favourable than those charged by your bank. You do, however, know how much it will cost you in your own currency straight away, rather than waiting until the charge appears on your credit card statement.
On the occasions I have done a comparison, I have always found it slightly cheaper to pay in the currency of the provider of goods/services.
If you are Australian, you might want to look into getting a 28 Degrees MasterCard, which has no international currency conversion fees. There are probably others, if you want to do your own research.
http://www.28degreescard.com. au/
Alpenrose